Nikola founder Trevor Milton pardoned after $1.8m bribe to Trump (Updated)
Well, here’s a weird one. We got a press release in our inboxes claiming that Nikola Motors founder Trevor Milton, who was convicted of defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of dollars, has been issued a full pardon for his crimes.
Update: This article has been updated to include confirmations from media of the pardon, to acknowledge the $1.8 million in payments Milton and his wife gave to a pro-Trump PAC, and with comments from Mr. Trump in a press conference.
In case you need a refresher, Trevor Milton was the founder of Nikola Motors who was found guilty of fraud due to false statements he made to investors in the runup to production of Nikola’s zero emission trucks.
He was sentenced in December 2023. His sentence included four years in prison, seizure of property, a $1 million fine, and three years of supervised release after serving the sentence.
The verdict and sentence related to false statements that Milton made to the public about progress with his company’s electric trucks. In particular, one situation involved a faked video of Nikola’s “One” hydrogen truck in which the truck was shown running when, in fact, it was just rolling down a hill.
Despite all this, Nikola got new leadership and did end up making battery and fuel cell electric semi trucks – we took multiple rides in them (they were pretty good, to be honest), and visited one of their fueling stations.
But it all wasn’t enough to keep Nikola from going bankrupt last month.
Fast forward to yesterday and we got a very weird press release in our inboxes – which we sat on for a little while, since it felt sketchy.
The press release came from “Trevor Milton Media,” and is highly praiseful of Milton, and also ends with an ad for an upcoming documentary. It claims that Donald Trump, also a convicted felon, has issued a full pardon to Milton. Milton also made a social media post announcing that he had gotten a personal phone call from Mr. Trump telling him about the pardon.
However, the Justice department operates a handy website cataloguing pardons – and weirdly enough, Milton isn’t on there. The website does mention an action from March 25th, so it *is* possible that it’s not updated and this will be added later – we would not be surprised by a lack of organization from anything associated with Mr. Trump.
But, whitehouse.gov also has a list of executive actions, and that’s been updated all the way to today, March 28, the day after this pardon happened. It includes an item from March 26, a pardon of Devon Archer, which is also listed on the Justice department’s pardon website as having happened on March 25.
Further, the pardon website includes no acknowledgement of pending cases for anyone named Trevor Milton, under the “search for a case” function.
And the last entry on the case against Trevor Milton is a letter from March 14th detailing the appropriate amounts of restitution – totaling at least ~$676 million – for parties defrauded by Milton.
Then, after sitting on the story for a couple hours, we saw that other outlets had reported it with the caveat that “Milton says” he’d been given a pardon – with some hoping that it’s a hoax. Reuters stated at the time that “The White House and Nikola did not immediately respond to requests for comment,” but all of this happened well past end of day, when people weren’t around to comment (nobody picked up the one call we made, either).
Finally, today New York Times, AP and others now say that the White House has confirmed this, but it still has not been posted to any official catalogue of pardons. It has also been reported that Trevor Milton gave $920,000 to Mr. Trump’s political campaign (or $1.8 million combined with his wife) and was represented in this case by Pam Bondi’s brother.
Update: Mr. Trump was asked his thoughts on the pardon in a press conference, and instead of stating his own thoughts (because, as usual, he doesn’t have any), he said that it was “highly recommended by many people,” but acknowledged that he “doesn’t know [Milton].” Mr. Trump also acknowledged that one of the reasons he supports a pardon is because Milton “liked Trump” and “supported Trump.”
Electrek’s Take
Well, we were right to think this was sketchy, but while we originally thought it could have been a weird publicity stunt of some sort, it looks like this is just the standard pay-for-play sketchiness that happens when a convicted fraudster is squatting in the White House.
The weirdness of the press release we got does warrant examination, though.
Much of it rails against the justice system in general, and against the Southern District of New York in particular – the district in which Milton was found guilty of federal crimes, and the same state where Mr. Trump was found guilty of falsifying business records, violating state law.
Milton’s press release argues that his case is similar to Mr. Trump’s, with both of them being victimized by the court system. It states “The striking similarities between Milton’s case and those brought against President Trump highlight systemic issues within the justice system, particularly within the Southern District of New York.” This seems like clear angling at Mr. Trump’s vanity.
The press release also name drops specific US attorneys and claims that their prosecution was flawed. This could be similar to a tactic which Mr. Trump has used before (and his ally Elon Musk), where they have publicly called out defenders of the law for doing their jobs in an apparent attempt to get them to back down or compromise their efforts.
It also seems quite similar to a proposed tactic by another corporate criminal, Sam Bankman-Fried. Fried had planned to “Go on Tucker Carlsen [sic], come out as a republican” in an attempt to angle for a pardon, again playing on the vanity, credulousness and love of fraud shown by the idiot-in-chief. Too bad Fried’s timing was off, but Milton been luckier here.
And then, in the last line of the press release, we get to a pretty funny statement – it ends with a link to a trailer for a documentary which purports to exonerate Milton, thus trying to use this news to get publicity for the upcoming video. Kind of strange that someone would need to release a documentary making the case for exoneration when one has supposedly already been exonerated, isn’t it?
So, for these reasons, we initially thought that this pardon didn’t actually happen. And it still isn’t mentioned on the pardon site, but then again disorganization is just as unsurprising as corruption when it comes to the convicted fraudster who is currently squatting in the White House (despite the Constitution having a clear legal remedy for this national crisis).
And now, in exchange for just under $2 million in bribes, Milton might be able to skip out on the hundreds of millions in restitution he owes to regular people – or at least delay it for a while until civil cases happen. What a return on investment. We’ve crossed the Rubicon, people.
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Japanese equipment giant Kubota brought 22 new or updated machines to the 2025 bauma expo earlier this year, but tucked away in the corners was a new retrofit kit that can help existing customers decarbonize more quickly, and more affordably.
No matter how badly a fleet may want to electrify, harsh economic realities and the greater up-front costs typically associated with battery electric remain high hurdles to overcome, but new retrofit options from major manufacturers are popping up to help lower those obstacles.
The latest equipment maker to put its name on the retrofit list is Kubota, who says its kit can be installed by a trained dealer in a single day.
That’s right! By this time tomorrow, your diesel-powered Kubota KX019 or U27-4 excavator (shown) could be fitted with an 18 or 20 kWh li-ion battery pack and electric drive motors and ready to get to work in a low-noise or low-vibration work environment where emissions are a strict no-no. Think indoor precision demolition or historic archeological excavation.
Then, if necessary, it can go right back to diesel power.
From diesel to electric and back again
If that sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve talked about a similarly flexible power solution from ZQUIP. The battery packs and diesel engines are much larger in that application, but the basic sales pitch remains the same: electric when it benefits your operation, diesel it doesn’t.
Kubota says its modular retrofit kits is a response to the increasing global demand for sustainable alternatives by focusing on making machinery that’s flexible and repairable enough to be “reusable,” and offer construction fleet managers a longer operational lifespan, superior ROI (return on investment), and lower TCO (total cost of ownership) than the competition.
Kubota’s solution also notably reduces maintenance costs and operational overheads. With no engine and associated components, servicing time and expenses are considerably reduced, saving customers both time and money. Additionally, with electricity costing far less than fossil fuels, it offers a highly economical advantage.
International Rental News reports that other changes to the excavators include a more modern cab controls with a digital instrument cluster, a 60 mm wider undercarriage for more stability, and an independent travel circuit allows operators to use the boom, dipper, bucket, and auxiliary functions without an impact on tracking performance.
Kubota’s new kit, first shown at last year’s Hillhead exhibition in the UK, will officially be on sale this summer – any day now, in fact – though pricing has yet to be announced.
Electrek’s Take
If you’re wondering how it is that we’re still talking about bauma 2025 a full quarter after the show wrapped up, then I haven’t done a good enough job of explaining how positively massive the show was. Check out this Quick Charge episode (above) then let us know what you think of Kubota’s modular power kits in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kubota, via International Rental News.
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Elon Musk isn’t happy about Trump passing the Big Beautiful Bill and killing off the $7,500 EV tax credit – but there’s a lot more bad news for Tesla baked into the BBB. We’ve got all that and more on today’s budget-busting episode of Quick Charge!
We also present ongoing coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix and dive into some two wheeled reports on the new electric Honda Ruckus e:Zoomer, the latest BMW electric two-wheeler, and more!
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Environment
FERC: Solar + wind made up 96% of new US power generating capacity in first third of 2025
Solar and wind accounted for almost 96% of new US electrical generating capacity added in the first third of 2025. In April, solar provided 87% of new capacity, making it the 20th consecutive month solar has taken the lead, according to data belatedly posted on July 1 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.
Solar’s new generating capacity in April 2025 and YTD
In its latest monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update” report (with data through April 30, 2025), FERC says 50 “units” of solar totaling 2,284 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in April, accounting for 86.7% of all new generating capacity added during the month.
In addition, the 9,451 MW of solar added during the first four months of 2025 was 77.7% of the new generation placed into service.
Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity added each month for 20 consecutive months, from September 2023 to April 2025.
Solar + wind were >95% of new capacity in 1st third of 2025
Between January and April 2025, new wind provided 2,183 MW of capacity additions, accounting for 18.0% of new additions in the first third.
In the same period, the combination of solar and wind was 95.7% of new capacity while natural gas (511 MW) provided just 4.2%; the remaining 0.1% came from oil (11 MW).
Solar + wind are >22% of US utility-scale generating capacity
The installed capacities of solar (11.0%) and wind (11.8%) are now each more than a tenth of the US total. Together, they make up almost one-fourth (22.8%) of the US’s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.
Moreover, at least 25-30% of US solar capacity is in small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind to more than a quarter of the US total.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.7%), biomass (1.1%), and geothermal (0.3%), renewables currently claim a 31.8% share of total US utility-scale generating capacity. If small-scale solar capacity is included, renewables are now about one-third of total US generating capacity.
Solar is on track to become No. 2 source of US generating capacity
FERC reports that net “high probability” additions of solar between May 2025 and April 2028 total 90,158 MW – an amount almost four times the forecast net “high probability” additions for wind (22,793 MW), the second-fastest growing resource. Notably, both three-year projections are higher than those provided just a month earlier.
FERC also foresees net growth for hydropower (596 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) but a decrease of 123 MW in biomass capacity.
Taken together, the net new “high probability” capacity additions by all renewable energy sources over the next three years – i.e., the bulk of the Trump administration’s remaining time in office – would total 113,516 MW.
FERC doesn’t include any nuclear capacity in its three-year forecast, while coal and oil are projected to contract by 24,373 MW and 1,915 MW, respectively. Natural gas capacity would expand by 5,730 MW.
Thus, adjusting for the different capacity factors of gas (59.7%), wind (34.3%), and utility-scale solar (23.4%), electricity generated by the projected new solar capacity to be added in the coming three years should be at least six times greater than that produced by the new natural gas capacity, while the electrical output by new wind capacity would be more than double that by gas.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, by May 1, 2028, solar will account for one-sixth (16.6%) of US installed utility-scale generating capacity. Wind would provide an additional one-eighth (12.6%) of the total. That would make each greater than coal (12.2%) and substantially more than nuclear power or hydropower (7.3% and 7.2%, respectively).
In fact, assuming current growth rates continue, the installed capacity of utility-scale solar is likely to surpass that of either coal or wind within two years, placing solar in second place for installed generating capacity, behind only natural gas.
Renewables + small-scale solar may overtake natural gas within 3 years
The mix of all utility-scale (ie, >1 MW) renewables is now adding about two percentage points each year to its share of generating capacity. At that pace, by May 1, 2028, renewables would account for 37.7% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – rapidly approaching that of natural gas (40.1%). Solar and wind would constitute more than three-quarters of installed renewable energy capacity. If those trend lines continue, utility-scale renewable energy capacity should surpass that of natural gas in 2029 or sooner.
However, as noted, FERC’s data do not account for the capacity of small-scale solar systems. If that’s factored in, within three years, total US solar capacity could exceed 300 GW. In turn, the mix of all renewables would then be about 40% of total installed capacity while the share of natural gas would drop to about 38%.
Moreover, FERC reports that there may actually be as much as 224,426 MW of net new solar additions in the current three-year pipeline in addition to 69,530 MW of new wind, 9,072 MW of new hydropower, 202 MW of new geothermal, and 39 MW of new biomass. By contrast, net new natural gas capacity potentially in the three-year pipeline totals just 26,818 MW. Consequently, renewables’ share could be even greater by mid-spring 2028.
“The Trump Administration’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ … poses a clear threat to solar and wind in the years to come,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director, Ken Bossong. “Nonetheless, FERC’s latest data and forecasts suggest cleaner and lower-cost renewable energy sources may still dominate and surpass nuclear power, coal, and natural gas.”
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